The 4-0 record may not reflect the challenges the 2024 NFL season has brought for the Kansas City Chiefs. With Rashee Rice‘s injury last time out, the list of missing weapons for Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes has further increased.
With Hollywood Brown and Isiah Pacheco already on the sidelines, Rice’s absence creates an even bigger hole in the Chiefs’ offense. Coming off an impressive rookie campaign, the second-year wideout became Mahomes‘ primary weapon in 2024.
Therefore, many wonder how the two-time defending Super Bowl champions will respond to this setback. Fortunately for Reid, his quarterback looks quite confident on what the Chiefs‘ current wideouts can bring to the table.
“We have a lot of intelligent receivers in the room right now,” Mahomes told reporters on Thursday, via Charles Goldman of A to Z Sports. Needless to say, this should be a huge relief to the head coach.
Not only did the quarterback let Reid know there’s no need to make a move, but Mahomes also guaranteed the coach he took note of his comments. Only a few days ago, Reid seemed to ask the Chiefs star to try and get involved as many wideouts as possible during Rice’s absence.
Andy Reid wants Mahomes to use all the Chiefs WRs
With Rice expected to miss significant time, many immediately turned their attention to rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy, who made a great impression early in the 2024 NFL season.
Besides, since Rice shone in his rookie year, it wasn’t hard for fans to expect Worthy to step up in this situation. However, Reid made it clear to Mahomes he doesn’t want the Chiefs to depend only on the Texas product.
“We have guys here that have experience of playing in a game, so I mean, it’s not that he’s the only one, [and] doesn’t have to be the only one,” Reid said of Worthy. “We’ve got a good group of guys there that we can utilize. We normally spread the ball around, and that’s what we’ll continue to strive to do.“
Besides Worthy, Reid believes Mahomes can rely on experienced wideouts JuJu Smith-Schuster and Skyy Moore. The team also counts on seasoned WRs Justin Watson and Mecole Hardman, who caught the game-winning TD in Super Bowl LVIII in February.